Wednesday, November 29, 2017

Borage and bugloss, herbs with leaves and flowers that are in no way different; they are always similar in root, seed, and virtue, in soup when their shoots are tender, and flowers in salad. They are sown in August and September for the winter, and for the summer in April, and be fearful of transplanting them at any time. Gather the seed when half dead, so it does not need to be removed from the stem.

Bugloss, mainly the flower, brought gayety to people who use it often, because it restores the heart, purges the blood, and strengthens the vital spirits. The broth of bugloss loosens the belly. The root which has borne three stems, pounded with its seed and boiled with wine, serves well against tertian malaria. Wine in which bugloss leaves are soaked removes all sadness. Juice of bugloss and borage is an antidote against bitter wine and venomous bites. Bugloss having three leaves, pounded with seed and root, and drunk is greatly beneficial against the horrors of tertian malaria, and that which has four leaves against the shivers of quartan malaria. Its distilled water is singular against the dreams that occur with fever, and against the inflammation of the eyes.

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This blog is a companion to the Medieval Cookery website. I generally only put stuff on the website that I feel is "reasonably" complete. Here I'll be posting thoughts and recent discoveries about medieval European cooking, as well as tangentially related subjects like calendars, language, and culture.